Griffins denied first win of season in 64-61 OT loss to Bobcats in front of huge 'School Day' crowd
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
15 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 64 |
|
|
28 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 61 |
Team Stats
Brandon
| Game Statistics | Brandon | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (18-66) | (17-69) |
| Field Goal % | 27.3% | 24.6% |
| Rebounds | 49 | 51 |
| Assists | 7 | 11 |
| Turnovers | 40 | 40 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 24 | 19 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 8 | 9 |
| Pts in the Paint | 24 | 18 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 20 | 11 |
| Bench Pts | 10 | 18 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – What started out as a track meet turned into an overtime battle of attrition between two winless teams in Canada West women's basketball action on Friday afternoon.
After the MacEwan Griffins and Brandon Bobcats combined for 80 turnovers (40 each) with the lead changing hands 20 times, the visitors escaped with a gritty 64-61 win on the strength of a few free throws made in the extra session.
The victory marks the first of the season for the Bobcats, who improved to 1-8, while the Griffins fall to 0-7 after the loss.
"I think that the pace the game started out with certainly wore both teams down and just impacted a bit of our decision making in moments," said MacEwan head coach Katherine Adams. "I think there's a few possessions that we'd like to have back where we had some open teammates and maybe forced a turnover where we could have made a different decision. But we'll take a look at that on film and see areas that we can adapt so we can be better tomorrow."
The pace of the first quarter benefitted the Griffins, who used their athleticism to score nearly half their points in the opening 10 minutes. They were aggressive on defence, forcing multiple turnovers and led 28-15 in front of a loud, raucous crowd of students – 720 strong – on 'School Day.'
"I thought our start was great," said Adams. "The crowd was fantastic. Having that energy in the gym, we really fed off that to get ourselves going. I thought we pushed the ball well and did a great job getting to the rim and making our presence felt early on."
Toni Gordon goes coast to coast and gets the hoop and the harm for a three-point play. She leads the @MacEwanGriffins with seven first-quarter points as they are up 28-15 on the @BUBobcats after 10 minutes.#GriffNation @CanadaWest pic.twitter.com/dDArT3RuLb
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) November 29, 2024
But the Griffins' shooting percentages fell as the game went on as they never could find what they did well in the first quarter. They finished shooting just 24.6 per cent in the contest.
"I thought we did a good job attacking the rim and getting into the paint and creating scoring opportunities," said Adams of their start. "Then they changed their defensive tactic, and it really took us out of rhythm and took us a bit to find some flow again."
Still the game stayed close and with the Griffins trailing by two with 3.3 seconds left, Sarah Burnell was fouled on a three-point attempt and had a chance to win it from the free-throw line. She made the first, but missed the second, so she needed to hit her third to send the game to overtime and it fell.
Paige Massier hits a huge three for the @MacEwanGriffins in the fourth quarter. We've got overtime at the David Atkinson Gym as the Griffins are tied 57-57 with the @BUBobcats!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/4frXfRVkrs
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) November 29, 2024
The teams traded multiple turnovers throughout the overtime session, but both were bailed out by the other as only 11 combined points were scored in the five-minute session.
MacEwan tied the contest 61-61 on Celine Quigley's steal and coast-to-coast layup with 35 seconds left. Unfortunately, that's all they could muster offensively, as they missed a shot and committed a turnover in the waning seconds, while Brandon eked out a win with three free throws from Ingallas and Faith Clearsky.
Obasuyi missed a three-point prayer at the buzzer and that was it.
A huge crowd of over 700 - mostly comprised of area students - greeted players on MacEwan's inaugural basketball School Day (Gerard Murray photo).
Obasuyi led the Griffins with 18 points, while Toni Gordon chipped in 11. Samantha Hickey finished with 13 rebounds.
Both Abbey Shand and Amaya McLeod paced the Bobcats with 14 points each. McLeod added nine steals, but also committed 13 turnovers – the most in a Canada West game this season.
The teams will meet again on Saturday (3 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV), where the Griffins will look to make adjustments and work off of what went well.
"In an overtime game, to give up 64 points is pretty good," said Adams. "I am happy with the defensive effort and the fact we forced 40 turnovers and had 15 steals. That's pretty good for us and something we can certainly build on.
"Now, it's just taking those stops we had at the defensive end and being able to convert them into some scores on offence."
